Archive for February, 2009

Trade promotions to be increased

VNBusinessNews - Trade promotion and market research will be stepped up to help companies expand their overseas markets and meet the export growth target of 13%, said the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency.

Eximbank announces lending rate at 0.9 percent/yr

VNBusinessNews - Viet Nam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) on February 23 announced the bank’s export support lending rate in dong at 0.9% a year.

This new lending rate benchmark will be officially applied from February 24.

HCMC’s pharmacy companies keen on drugstore chains

VNBusinessNews - Pharmacy companies in HCMC are showing keen interest in developing chains of drugstores rather than isolated ones to better compete and benefit more from distributing imported drugs now that foreign traders can directly import medicines into the country, an official said.

Rice exports shoot up

VNBusinessNews - Since the beginning of 2009, rice exports have dramatically increased in both quantity and revenue to levels much higher than the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Who pushes the gold price up to the peak?

VNBusinessNews - Several gold trading companies and commercial banks have got the quota for exporting gold from the State Bank of Viet Nam. The gold price is climbing to the one-year highest peak since March 18, 2009 with the price quoted on February 22 at between VND 19.73-19.83 million/tael. In both the world and domestic markets, the gold price is being influenced by the speculation.

Apparel sector targets export turnover of over US$10b in 2009

VNBusinessNews - The prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung along with deputy prime minister and leaders from some ministries on February 23 worked with leaders of Vietnam’s apparel sector on solutions for business and production activities in 2009.

Vietnam set to become regional largest crude oil exporter

VNBusinessNews - The Japanese Television channel, NHK, on Feb. 23 covered the inauguration ceremony of the Dung Quat Oil Refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai in the presence of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, senior Government officials and the heads of the Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).

Gold price at nearly 20m dong/oz

VNBusinessNews - The domestic gold price, today, February 23 was sustainable at 19.88 million dong per ounce so people stopped selling gold to gauge the movement in the market.

SJC gold price in Saigon Jewellery Co was listed at 19.78-19.88 million dong per ounce (buying and selling price), dipping 10,000 dong/ounce from the last weekend.

Seeking New Channels for Vietnamese Exports

VNBusinessNews - In January this year, Vietnam gained total export turnover of US$3.8 billion, down over US$1 billion compared to US$4.9 in December last year and nearly 25% on-year. Value of the majority of the country’s export items sharply dropped against the same period of 2008 with crude oil’s fall to 52% on-year, garment and textile 33% and footwear 25%.

Central Bank Sets USD/VND Exchange Rate At 16,972 on Feb 24

VNBusinessNews - Vietnam’s central bank set the dollar’s exchange rate unchanged at VND16,972 Tuesday.

State-owned Vietcombank sold at VND17,480, compared with VND17,481 Monday. Vietcombank is buying and selling dollars at the same rate, an indication of the dollar-shortage faced by banks.

Gold shops sold at VND17,700, higher than VND17,660 Monday.

Economy Worsens, More Laid off

VNBusinessNews - Corollary of economic recession at the breakneck speed in the world and Vietnam has lead to a gloomy labour market in 2009. According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs (MoLISA), it is forecast that 6,000-9,000 workers will lose jobs, 8,000 people will have their working hours cut.

Local shrimp exporter benefits from US anti-dumping verdict

VNBusinessNews - The Minh Phu Seafood Corporation (MPC) has received a bond payment refund from the US Customs Service following its conclusion that MPC was not guilty of dumping shrimp into the US market.

Bkis Vietnam applauded in Black Hat security conference

VNBusinessNews - Computer experts from Bkis Vietnam spotted a loophole in the facial recognition software for laptops during the Black Hat technical security conference, which was recently held in Washington D.C. in the US.

Nuclear power project to be submitted to NA in April

VNBusinessNews - The first nuclear power plant project in Viet Nam will be kicked off in 2015 and will become operational in 2020. Director of the Viet Nam Nuclear Energy Institute Vuong Huu Tan talks more about the project.

Vietnamese customers can buy online goods from Ebay

VNBusinessNews - Chodientu and eBay have launched an e-commerce website which allows Vietnamese to order goods online from markets that previously didn’t accept orders from Viet Nam.